Press photographer and fiance ride wedding before Barry

"I just think, dude, you know, I've covered all those hurricanes … is not it fair that a hurricane will destroy my marriage?"

AP photographer Gerald Herbert, who has survived eight hurricanes in the past two years, hoped that nature would spare him and his fiancée Lucy Sikes in a calm day for their marriage to New Orleans. Tropical Storm Barry had his own plans.

Before Barry saw New Orleans and the forecasts were less certain, the couple said that a little rain could not hurt. "Coming from New Orleans, we were not as worried about the forecasts we saw," Herbert told Weather Channel. "Honestly, I did not think we were going to have the precipitation we had announced.

"We thought, you know, that you will always have your guests, that your guests from outside will still come by plane, that you will always have your reception.You will simply not be able to take the balcony out of your room. reception. "

But just one day before the arrival of the land – and the couple's wedding day – Barry, who overran the dikes, provoked mandatory evacuations and caused many power cuts in Louisiana, forced the couple to take a break. decision at the split second.

The location of the reception – a restaurant from Lakefront Airport to New Orleans – warned Herbert and Sikes that it would be closed on Saturday. The lakeside airport, where Herbert retains a plane to visit Sikes, where she lives in Shreveport, is bounded by the anti-flood walls of Lake Pontchartrain.

"If they had winds of 40 km / h, flooded streets, customers could not go there and there was no reason for our parents to leave on the road in these conditions", said Herbert. .

After weighing the risks, the couple finally decided to move the wedding from one day to the next.

"She looked at me and she said:" I want to do that today. I want to get married today. "And I said absolutely" Herbert told The Weather Channel. "We went with the safest decision, and, you know, we had our rings, our wedding party was intact."

Once they made their decision, they started working on the phone, texting, and sending family members. "I told my family:" Hey, we are getting married today at 5:00 am because of the bad weather. Please, spread the word to everyone. "

Unfortunately, about 22 guests were absent, including two of Herbert's brothers.

Pam Eshleman, the wedding coordinator, helped advance the marriage of the Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church from one day to the next. "For some reason, God did not want you all to be married tomorrow," she told The Associated Press, Herbert's store. "He wanted you all here today, and it all worked out so well."

Deacon John Moore, legend of rhythm and blues and New Orleans, happily accepted the change of date and brought his brother to play at the wedding.

Despite the fact that they had lost their welcome, the couple seemed grateful. "It made things more sincere because those who were able to do it really made an effort because they knew what we were going through and they wanted to be sure to be there for us, and they wanted be it a beautiful wedding "Herbert said. "Everyone wanted it, so it was a group effort."